Native Plants for Sandy or Gravelly Soil

Acer macrophyllum Big-leaf Maple A tree with a large, often multi-stemmed trunk and a loose, broad crown of large leaves. Height: 65-100 feet (20-30 meters) tall with trunk 3-5 feet (1-1.5 meters)diameter.

Achillea millefolium Yarrow Aromatic herb with delicate fern-like leaves and flat-topped clusters of white flowers. Achillea millefolium is capable of enduring poor soil and dry conditions.

Height: 4 inches to 3 feet (10-100 cm).

Allium acuminatum Taper-Tip Onion This native wild onion has grass-like basal leaves overtopped by umbels of purple flowers, and egg-shaped bulbs containing a fibrous network on the surface.

Can endure rocky, dry to moist open forest sites. Height: Up to 12 inches (30 cm).

Allium cernuum Nodding Onion Clusters of long grass-like leaves overtopped by nodding umbels of pink flowers. Prefers dry sandy to rocky soils.

Height: Up to 20 inches (50 cm).

Arbutus menziesii Madrone An attractive broadleaf evergreen with a twisting reddish trunk and irregular branches with an overall rounded outline. Found in rocky sites with coarse-textured soils Height: Up to 100 feet (30 meters).

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi Kinnikinnick, Bearberry A mat-forming evergreen shrub producing lovely pink flowers that later turn into red berries. Prefers coarse, well-drained soils. Height: Can grow up to 8 inches (20 cm) tall.

Washington Native Plant Society © 2018 wnps.org Brodiaea congesta Harvest Lily Long slender stems to 3 feet (1 meter) in length topped by a dense cluster of deep purple flowers. Height: Up to 3 feet (1 meter) tall.

Brodiaea hyacinthina Fool's Onion, White Brodiaea Onion-like plant from an underground corm, with large clusters of white flowers at tip of stems. Also found in sagebrush deserts east of Cascades.

Height: 10-30 inches (25-70 cm).

Ceanothus velutinus Snowbrush A tall shrub with glossy leaves and clusters of white flowers. Height: Up to 10 feet (3 meters).

Claytonia perfoliata Miner's Lettuce Low-growing, mat-like herbaceous annual with succulent round leaves. Height: 12 inches (30 cm).

Corylus cornuta Beaked Hazelnut Slender, multi-trunked deciduous shrub. Prefers calcium and nitrogen rich soils. Height: 3 feet - 13 feet (1 meter - 4 meters).

Deschampsia cespitosa Tufted Hairgrass Densely tufted perennial grass. Grows vigorously in nutrient-rich sites.

Height: Up to 4 feet (120 cm) tall.

Epilobium brachycarpum Tall Annual Willowherb Taprooted annual of dry, gravelly or disturbed sites. Height: 1-4 feet (30-120 cm) tall.

Washington Native Plant Society © 2018 wnps.org Equisetum arvense Field Horsetail Succulent, hollow, jointed stems with whorls of branches. Height: 6-24 inches (15-60 cm).

Equisetum telmatiea Giant Horsetail More robust and larger than common horsetail. Sheaths around its sterile stems have 14-18 teeth.

Height: 3-7.5 (10) feet tall; 1-2.3 (3) meters tall.

Eriophyllum lanatum Woolly Sunflower Wooly leafy perennial with yellow daisy-like flowers. Height: Up to 2 feet (60 cm).

Erythronium oregonum White Fawn Lily Showy white lily from segmented corm. Height: Flower stem up to 1 feet (30 cm) tall.

Festuca rubra Red Fescue Perennial grass with thread-like leaves forming small patches. Will withstand inundation if soil is well drained.

Height: Can grow up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall.

Fragaria chiloensis Coastal Strawberry Spreads low across ground with runners. White flowers and small red strawberries. Commonly found on dunes and sea bluffs. Height: Up to 10 inches (25 cm).

Gilia capitata Globe Gilia Upright taprooted annual with large ball-like heads of blue flowers. Height: Up to 3 feet (1 meter).

Washington Native Plant Society © 2018 wnps.org Heuchera micrantha Small-flowered Alumroot Grows from rhizomes with one to many flower stems that are reddish and covered with fine hairs and topped with delicate panicles of tiny white flowers.

Height: Up to 2 feet (60 cm).

Holodiscus discolor Oceanspray Multi-stemmed upright shrub with ridged young stems and arching older stems with peeling bark. White flowers.

Prefers well-drained rocky soils. Height: Up to 13 feet (4 meters).

Juncus ensifolius Daggerleaf Rush Height: Can grow up to 2 feet (60 cm) tall.

Lithophragma parviflorum Small-flowered Woodland Star Delicate herb from slender rhizomes with numerous small bulblets; white star-shaped flowers. Height: 2-16 inches (10-40 cm).

Luetkea pectinata Partridgefoot Low-growing ground cover with spikes of small white flowers. Prefers moist sandy acidic soil. Height: Up to 6 inches (3 cm) tall.

Mahonia aquifolium Tall Oregon Grape Erect, stiff-branched shrub with holly-like leaves and clusters of yellow flowers. Tolerant of nutrient-poor, rocky soils.

Height: 2.5 - 6.5 feet (0.8 meters - 2 meters).

Penstemon fruticosus Lowbush Penstemon Spreading shrub with numerous tubular purple flowers. Height: Up to 40 cm (1.5 ft) tall.

Washington Native Plant Society © 2018 wnps.org Philadelphus lewisii Mock Orange Erect, loosely branched shrub with large fragrant white flowers. Can tolerate several soil types. Height: Up to 10 feet (3 meters).

Phlox diffusa Spreading Phlox Mat forming perennial with showy white to pink flowers. Height: Up to 4 inches (10 cm).

Pinus contorta Shore Pine Short pine tree, often with crooked trunk and bushy habit. Height: Up to 100 feet (30 meters).

Plectritis congesta Sea Blush Delicate annual herb with large dense clusters of small pink flowers. Height: Up to 2 feet (60 cm).

Polemonium pulcherrimum Showy Jacob's-ladder Taprooted perennial with mostly basal leaves and blue bell-shaped flowers. Height: Up to 14 inches (35 cm).

Potentilla anserina ssp. pacifica Silverweed Low growing hairy herb with runners and solitary yellow flowers. Height: Up to 16 inches (40 cm).

Prunus emarginata var. mollis Bitter Cherry Shrub or small tree with white flowers and small red cherries. Height: Up to 50 feet (15 meters).

Pseudotsuga menziesii Douglas fir Large coniferous tree with thick, fluted bark. Height: Up to 300 feet (90 meters).

Washington Native Plant Society © 2018 wnps.org Pteridium aquilinum Bracken Fern Rhizomous perennial fern with large, much-divided solitary fronds, Height: Usually 3-6 feet (1-2 meters) tall, sometimes taller.

Quercus garryana Garry Oak Beautiful, deciduous, heavy limbed oak tree. Height: Up to 82 feet (25 meters).

Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani Softstem Bulrush

Scirpus maritimus Seacoast Bulrush

Sisyrinchium californicum Golden-eyed Grass A small iris-like plant with yellow flowers. Height: 16 inches (40 cm).

Washington Native Plant Society © 2018 wnps.org